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Police operation in the Bürgerpark Pankow in February: search for missing persons with tragic outcome
Photo: Paul Zinken / dpa
In the case of the violent death of a five-year-old girl in Berlin-Pankow, the public prosecutor's office has brought charges against a 19-year-old. The young man was accused of manslaughter, the authority said.
He himself has not yet commented on the allegations. The motive for the crime is still unclear.
The 19-year-old was arrested on February 21 on the edge of the Bürgerpark – shortly after the missing girl was found lifeless in a bush. The 19-year-old has been in custody ever since.
Girl died in hospital
On the day of the crime, according to witnesses, he was supposed to take care of the girl and her three younger siblings on a playground near the park. It is said not to have been the first time that the man had taken care of the girl. From there, he then went away with the five-year-old, allegedly because the child had to go to the toilet. A little later, the 19-year-old came back alone.
According to the indictment, he initially lost sight of the girl and searched for her. After he found the child again, he allegedly killed it with several stab wounds. The girl died in the hospital.
The background to the crime is still unknown. Most recently, the public prosecutor's office had announced at the beginning of March that a possible murder weapon had been found. There were no traces, which could be found, which indicated a sexual motive, it said. According to the public prosecutor's office, nothing has changed so far.
bbr/dpa